He was the son of a village schoolmaster. At the age of nine he was sent to the school of Louis Niedermeyer, who made no charge for the boy's education. He remained there until 1865, forming a friendship with another teacher, Saint-Saens. In 1866 he became organist at Rennes. In 1870 he joined a light infantry regiment for the Franco-Prussian War. From 1871 to 1873 he was an organist in Paris and taught at the l'Ecole Niedermeyer. In 1877 he became assistant organist and choirmaster at the Madeleine, and in 1896 chief organist at the Madeleine and professor of composition at the Paris Conservatory. He was appointed director of the Conservatory in 1905, and retired from that post in 1920. From 1910, however, he became increasingly deaf, and this handicapped him seriously for the rest of his life.